The 2011/12
season has been an interesting and challenging one for a number of reasons, not
least because we made the move after
four seasons from 9 a side in the Cambridgeshire league to 11 a side in
Hertfordshire league, with as we discovered, a higher standard of opposition
throughout.
ACES National Tournament
Bishop’s
Stortford’s competitive season started way back in July 2011, whe n they were
joined by Megan Evans from the U15s to head up to Market Harborough in
Leicestershire for the All Cities Elite Shield, an invitational event for
league winners from across the country. In their first competitive outing at 11
a side, Bishops Stortford dominated the early rounds of the competition,
entering the semi-final phase on top of the table. Unfortunately the semi was a
game too far and tired legs let an early goal slip in from Blackpool who
consolidated their lead before going on to win the final.
Bishops Stortford P5 W3 D2 L0 F5 A2 PTS11
Nottingham P5 W2 D2 L1 F5 A4 PTS8
Sheffield P5 W2 D1 L2 F7 A5 PTS7
Blackpool P5 W2 D1 L2 F3 A4 PTS7
Warwick P5 W1 D2 L2 F4 A5 PTS5
Leicester P5 W1 D0 L4 F6 A9 PTS3
Bishops Stortford P5 W3 D2 L0 F5 A2 PTS11
Nottingham P5 W2 D2 L1 F5 A4 PTS8
Sheffield P5 W2 D1 L2 F7 A5 PTS7
Blackpool P5 W2 D1 L2 F3 A4 PTS7
Warwick P5 W1 D2 L2 F4 A5 PTS5
Leicester P5 W1 D0 L4 F6 A9 PTS3
HGFPL Pre-season tournament
The HGFPL
pre-season tournament was the first event of the season proper. Getting to
grips with larger goals, bigger pitches and more players in the team was the
main objective of the day and a defeat in the league stages against Bury was
perhaps not a surprise. However other performances put Stortford into the final
and victory over Bury Rangers, secured without a hobbled Scarlett, put the
first trophy of the season safely in the cabinet.
Hertfordshire County Cup
The County
Cup remains an illusive prize, as for the third year in succession we were
ultimately defeated by Garston Ladies, though this time by a loan goal in extra
time in the final, where an understrength team had held out heroically for the
majority of the game. Our path to the final had been no less dramatic. The
semi-final against Bury Rangers will remain long in the memory as we took the
lead on three separate occasions only to be pegged back each time. Finally only
penalties could decide the result and at 4-4 after the first five it was a
sudden death save then goal from Skye that pushed us over the finishing line
and into the final.
HGFPL
The league
is the ultimate challenge of any football season. It tests a team in many ways,
exposing any weakness in ability, talent, team spirit, squad strength, tactics,
stamina or susceptibility to injury. It is the greatest testament to our girls
then that they secured their fourth straight league title in as many years,
with a record of that only included one defeat. In fact, as can be seen in the
table snapshot below, this was a league decided on the smallest of margins,
with the top 3 all having 12 victories to their name.
POS
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
PTS
|
||
1
|
16
|
12
|
3
|
1
|
39
|
||
2
|
16
|
12
|
2
|
2
|
38
|
||
3
|
16
|
12
|
1
|
3
|
37
|
Analysis of
goals scored and conceded may point to what ultimately decided the destiny of
the title, with Garston and Bury scoring more goals than us, but Stortford
conceding the least – a magnificently meagre 16 over the season. Another
perspective is that in head to head competition between the 3 teams we were the
least successful (3 draws and 1 loss (4pts) compared to Bury’s won 2, drew 1
and lost 1 (7pts) and Garston’s won 1, drew 2 and lost 1 (5pts) yet we consistently
picked up victories against all other opposition, both home and away, something
neither Garston nor Bury were able to do and ultimately, this cost them both
the title.
Talk of
statistics though is meaningless against the backdrop of this team’s spirit and
togetherness. At times, phenomenal passing football, rock solid defending and the
bravest of goalkeeping are all knitted together by a team spirit that just will
not give up – something I have not seen the equal of, anywhere through my sporting
career.
ESFF Tournament, Butlin’s Bognor Regis, West Sussex
As last
year, as an end of season celebration, the team headed off to Sussex on May Day
weekend and managed to conjure another tournament victory, somewhat against the
odds considering the circumstances. Again, that team spirit shone through and
their growing maturity allowed clear thinking to focus on what mattered and
victory was again secured.
HGFPL League Cup
The final
game of the season is traditionally the league cup final and Bishops Stortford
secured their place with a hard fought victory over Hampstead. That their
opposition in the final was again Garston Ladies and with pre-match news that
their coach was retiring from the role and that the team might be breaking up,
the girls had one last chance to beat the only team they had failed to achieve
a victory against to date. In a typically tight and tense game, Stortford took
the lead through a first half strike from Inka, only for Garston to draw level
when a deflected shot wrong footed Skye and found the net. The scores remained
level through to the end, extra time again required to separate the two sides.
This time round it was Stortford’s turn to claim the cup victory when a
powerful shot from Inka could only be parried by Poppy in the Garston goal.
Hannah sprang upon the ball and swept it home to score her debut goal for the
season at the most opportune time.
Milestones
Some remarkable
individual and team milestones were achieved this season and are worthy of
mention here.
·
Both
Inka and Tia passed the milestone of 100 goals for the club and Abigail currently
stands just a few short of her own century on 94.
·
The
team set an unbeaten league run that stands at 15 ½ months and 28 league consecutive
games.
·
In
four years, from U11 through to U14, the team have played 74 league games, won 65,
drawn 4 and lost 5, scoring 402 goals and conceding 56
Once again
it has been an honour to work with the girls for another season and I’d like to
thank them personally for all their efforts and congratulate them again on what
they have achieved in probably their most successful season to date.
The girls and I would like to
thank all the parents for their support throughout the season and especially
Parm and Amar for running such a delicious tea bar, Cathy for looking after
referee expenses, Jane and Simon for taking on the sometimes challenging role
of match delegate, to Padriag, Mark and the other officials we have employed
for running the games so effectively. I would also like to add a note of
personal thanks to the very special
people who have helped me through some difficult moments along the way.
MW .
14.5.12
